Kenneth J. Soprano, Ph.D.

Kenneth J. Soprano, Ph.D.

Dr. Kenneth J. Soprano earned his A.B. in Biology from Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Microbiology from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. After completing 4 years of post-doctoral research in Tumor Virology at the Fels Institute for Molecular Biology and Cancer Research at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia he was appointed as a faculty member in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Temple Medical School. Dr. Soprano spent 30 years as a faculty member at Temple Medical School, and 7 years as the Temple University Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies. During this time, Dr. Soprano maintained an NIH funded research laboratory which focused on elucidation of the role of oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, and cell cycle regulatory genes in regulating the growth of breast and ovarian tumor cells. He trained 25 Ph.D. students and 5 M.S. students and published more than 100 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals. In addition, Dr. Soprano taught Virology and Molecular Biology to graduate students and second year medical students and was a recipient of the Christian R. and Mary P. Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching.

Dr. Soprano came to Chestnut Hill College in 2008. He served for 4 years as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty. As a member of the Biology Department, he teaches Molecular Biology, Medical and Molecular Virology, Introduction to Forensic Science, Biological and Medical Ethics, Senior Seminar in Biology and Chemistry, Cancer Therapeutics-The Cure: From Bench to Bedside. He is also Chair of the Institutional Review Board (IRB), and the Middle States Reaccreditation Committee. Dr. Soprano has served as a member of the Tenure and Promotion Committee, the COVID-19 Task Force, the Academic Restructuring Task Force, the Strategic Planning Committee and the Presidential Search Committee.

Dr. Soprano is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, the Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research, Molecular Biology Reports and The Women’s Oncology Review. In addition, he has served as an ad hoc reviewer for many scientific journals including Cancer Research, Proceedings, National Academy of Sciences, Virology, Oncogene, and the Journal of Cellular Physiology. Dr. Soprano has also served as a member of a number of grant review panels for the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command Congressionally Directed Research Programs, National Cancer Institute Insight Awards to Stamp Out Breast Cancer and the Merit Review Board for Basic Sciences and U.S. Veterans Administration.

Experiences

Research Interests

  • Elucidation of the role of oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, and cell cycle regulatory genes in mediating the ability of retinoids and vitamin A derivatives to inhibit the growth of ovarian tumer cells.

Educational Background

  • Ph.D. Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, 1978
  • M.S. Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, 1976
  • A.B. Biology, College of the Holy Cross, 1974

Courses Taught

  • Biological and Medical Ethics
  • Introduction to Forensic Science
  • Senior Seminar in Biology
  • Advanced Special Topics in Biology-Medical and Molecular Virology

Publications

  • Pickens BS, Teets BW, Soprano KJ, Soprano DR (2013). Role of COUP-TR1 during Retinoic Acid-Induced Differentiation of P19 Cells to Endodermal Cells. J Cellular Physiology 228:791-800.
  • Teets BW, Soprano KJ, Soprano DR (2012). Role of SF-1 and DAX-1 during differentiation of P19 cells by retinoic acid. J Cellular Physiology 227:1501-1511.
  • Purev E, Soprano DR, Soprano KJ (2011). PP2A Interaction with Rb2/p130 Mediates Translocation of Rb2/p130 into the Nucleus in all-trans-Retinoic Acid Treated Ovarian Carcinoma Cells. J Cellular Physiology 226:1027-1034.
  • Acquafreda T, Nunes FD, Soprano DR, Soprano KJ (2010). Expression of homeobox genes in oral squamous cell carcinoma cell lines treated with all-trans-retinoic acid. J Cellular Biochemistry  111:1437-1444.
  • Zhao J, Zhang Z, Vucetic Z, Soprano KJ, Soprano DR (2009). HACE1: A novel repressor of RAR transcriptional activity. J Cellular Biochemistry 107:482-493.
  • Acquafreda T, Soprano KJ, Soprano DR (2009). GPRC5A: A potential tumor suppressor and oncogene. Cancer Biol Ther.8:963-965.
  • Radu M, Soprano KJ (2008). S10 phosphorylation of p27 mediates atRA induced growth arrest in ovarian carcinoma cell lines. J Cell Physiol 2008.
  • Fields AL, Soprano DR, Soprano KJ (2008). Characterization of alterations of Rb2/p130 tumor suppressor in all-trans-retinoic acid resistant SK-OV3 ovarian carcinoma cells. J Cellular Physiology 217:1(77-85) 2008.
  • Vucetic Z, Zhang Z, Zhao J, Wang F, Soprano KJ, Soprano DR (2008). Acinus-S’ represses retinoic acid receptor (RAR)-regulated gene expression through interaction with the B domains of RARs. Mol Cell Biol 28:2549-2558.

Awards

  • Recipient, Christian R. and Mary P. Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching
  • Member, Editorial Board, Molecular Biology Reports
  • Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Cellular Biochemistry
  • Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research
  • Contributing Editor, The Women’s Oncology Review